The cabinet on Tuesday approved additional economic assistance measures worth 27.4 billion baht, including an extension of the "Khon La Khrueng" co-payment scheme to help alleviate the hardship of people affected by higher costs of living amid high inflation.
The cabinet also gave the green light to additional tax incentives for electric vehicles (EVs) as well as a 5-billion-baht soft loan programme to help smaller hotels reopen.
According to Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, the new measures comprise the fifth phase of the Khon La Khrueng scheme and 200-baht cash handouts to vulnerable people who require special assistance, such as the elderly, the disabled, bed-ridden patients, those without smartphones, and low-income earners who hold state welfare cards.
However, the subsidies under the fifth phase of the co-payment scheme will be lowered to 800 baht per person per month, compared to 1,200 baht in the previous phase.
The new measures will run for two months, starting from Sept 1.
The government initiated the co-payment subsidy scheme in October 2020, offering to pay 50% of food, drink and general goods purchases for participants, with the total subsidy limited to 150 baht per person per day.
The scheme aims to boost the economy and shore up people's spending power, which was hit by the pandemic.
The fourth phase of the scheme ended on April 30.
Government spokesman Thanakorn Wangboonkongchana said 21.2 billion baht is expected to be spent to support the fifth phase of the co-payment subsidy scheme, with eligible recipients totalling 26.5 million. Recipients are required to start exercising the right to participate in the fifth scheme by Sept 14, or within a period of time set by the Finance Ministry.
According to Mr Thanakorn, it has been estimated that the measures for vulnerable people who require special assistance and low-income earners who hold state welfare cards will cost the government 6.22 billion baht.
Around 13.3 million low-income earners who hold state welfare cards are eligible to receive an additional 200 baht per person per month between September and October.
Moreover, another 2.3 million vulnerable people who need special assistance will also receive the same amount during the period.
In a related development, the cabinet on Tuesday approved lowering the annual car tax for EVs which are registered between Oct 1, 2022, and Sept 30, 2025, by 80%.
The cabinet also gave the green light to customs duty exemption for parts imported to assemble and produce battery electric vehicles in the customs-free zones or the free-trade zones of the Industrial Estate Authority of Thailand between 2022 and 2025, in a bid to promote local EV production.
Finance Minister Arkhom Termpittayapaisith said the assistance measures are expected to boost GDP growth by 0.13 percentage points and generate spending of 48.6 billion baht.
The schemes will be funded by 27.4 billion baht drawn from borrowings under the second emergency loan decree.
The second decree allows the government to borrow 500 billion baht to mitigate the impact of the pandemic.
After spending 27.4 billion baht to fund the stimulus schemes, there is expected to be around 50 billion baht of borrowings left, Mr Arkhom said.
